Prepositions – Time

To Be – There is/are: Singular/Plural / Prepositions

There is/are (dummy referential subjects) are deceptively simple in English. In other languages the function that indicates existence (наличие) takes on very different forms (this particular structure has been the topic of very intense and very abstract debates in the field of theoretical linguistics).

Often it is helpful to show the students a chart of the conjugations (спряжение):

singular	plural
There is	There are

Note that this there is not the same as:

The pencils are in there.

Negation is straightforward:

There isn't a pencil in my bag.

There aren't three books on the desk.

Note: In general, some is used in positive sentences while any is used in negative sentences and questions, but there are cases where the reverse is acceptable(допустимый).

Questions

Yes/No questions

These are formed by putting the auxiliary (вспомогательный) verb at the beginning of the sentence.

Is there an eraser (ластик) on my desk?

Are there any books under the table?

Of course the same effect can be achieved by giving the sentence a rising intonation:

There is a chair on the desk?

Prepositions – Time

English	Usage	Example
on	days of the week	on Monday
in	months / seasons time of day year after a certain period of time (when?)	in August / in winter in the morning in 2006 in an hour
at	for night for weekend a certain point of time (when?)	at night at the weekend at half past nine
since	from a certain point of time (past till now)	since 1980
for	over a certain period of time (past till now)	for 2 years
ago	a certain time in the past	2 years ago
before	earlier than a certain point of time	before 2004
to	telling the time	ten to six (5:50)
past	telling the time	ten past six (6:10)
to / till / until	marking the beginning and end of a period of time	from Monday to/till Friday
till / until	in the sense of how long something is going to last	He is on holiday until Friday.
by	in the sense of at the latest up to a certain time	I will be back by 6 o’clock. By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

Prepositions – Place (Position and Direction)

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